4 POST LIFT SUGGESTIONS

[STEVE POLLARD]

Just looking for some ideas regarding a 4 post lift.... I have a 28'x28' detached garage with a ceiling height of 12'. The lift would be used primarily for storage of full sized vehicles, any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated !

Steve

[Machinist_Bill]

I am going with this one Steve because the height under the ramps is 6'-8". No bumping my forehead! Also if I feel like changing a transmission there's plenty of room. Good luck on your search!

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Atlas-Garage-Pro-8000-EXT-L

[midman]

I have the standard height version of that lift. Nice lift overall, only place I had an issue was with the pump motor assembly. The motor burned out. Mine only lasted about 3 years. I did not do a lot of lifts, maybe 20-30 a year. Replaced the pump motor with an SPX. Much more expensive motor/ pump so we'll see if it holds up any better.

[Matt Harwood]

Having purchased several lifts and worked in shops with lifts, I can say with confidence that you always get what you pay for. Cheap lifts have an inexpensive buy-in, but will probably kill their motors faster and depending on the design, may not be safe for bigger cars. I had a client with a spectacular collection of '30s Full Classics, and he was short on space so he bought a bunch of inexpensive Chinese lifts to stack them. He had a Marmon Sixteen on one of them and it started to bend, locking the mechanism and leaving the half-million dollar car teetering. It took two tow trucks and about a half-dozen jacks of various sizes to get the Marmon down safely. The lifts were in the trash the next day.

I recently bought a Bend-Pak lift for my shop. I bought a slightly larger and heavier-duty model (rated to 9500 pounds) so it would handle larger vehicles like Dodge Power Wagons and my 1929 Cadillac. I bought the 220V motor for longevity and the extended ramps so low cars can easily get on it. Aside from an initial problem with the catches not releasing due to too many springs on the pneumatic lock cylinders (some European requirement), it has been just fine and doesn't even blink with heavy stuff on it.

Spend a little more and get a quality domestically-built lift, not some Chinese bargain-basement piece. Remember you're going to have expensive cars on it and you're going to be working under it. Don't take a chance that "hopefully it won't happen to me." The moment one of those posts starts to bend or move out of position, you're going to wish you'd spent a little more.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Thanks guys for the input, I really appreciate it....Question, with the lifts that you have, do you have them bolted down into the floor ? I think I've seen some lifts that can go either way.... I would think as a safety concern, bolting the post would be the way to go.

Steve

[JACK M]

I don't have mine bolted and it has never moved. I use it every day.

It has a wheel kit that lifts the posts with the weight if the deck, I thought I would use on occasion, but it turns out I never have moved the thing.

[Matt Harwood]

Mine is not bolted to the floor and actually came with casters that can be installed. The system is rather clever and involves lowering the lift down on them and it lifts the posts. It's quite stable without being bolted down with the posts at the outer corners of the rectangle. And to be honest, if you have a 6000 pound car 5 feet in the air and it starts to tip, a pair of bolts in the concrete isn't going to stop it from coming down. It can't hurt, but given that mine was designed to be moved I don't worry about it.

[Bhigdog]

I have a Bend-Pak 2 post lift for about 10 years now. I'm not a daily user but it's given me no trouble at all. It has Made in USA and US flag stickers all over it..............Bob

[edinmass]

Buy a truck lift, they are rated for 12,000 pounds. You are paying for steel............a stronger and safer lift. They are only a few hundred dollars more. I bought the cheap one first, sent it back as it wouldn't pick up a Pierce 12, the car was 6700 pounds, the lift was rated for 9000. Here is the one I purchased, it's 12k rated and 2700 dollars two years ago.

[edinmass]

I didn't bother bolting it down. I am glad I didn't. I have moved a Pierce 12 on the lift with the casters in place.........no problem.

[Amphicar BUYER]

I think this is much like the helmet ad from Bell years ago. "Got a $10 head? Buy a $10 helmet" Cheaper is not always cheaper!

[STEVE POLLARD]

Again, great information guys.... good points about not bolting the post to the floor. My Impalas and Monte Carlo range between 3400 to 3700 lbs. + -... so I'm figuring a 7000 lbs. capacity lift should be more than enough to handle them....as you can see from the photo, I'm out of space !

Steve

[Guest]

Mine is not bolted to the floor and actually came with casters that can be installed. The system is rather clever and involves lowering the lift down on them and it lifts the posts. It's quite stable without being bolted down with the posts at the outer corners of the rectangle. And to be honest, if you have a 6000 pound car 5 feet in the air and it starts to tip, a pair of bolts in the concrete isn't going to stop it from coming down. It can't hurt, but given that mine was designed to be moved I don't worry about it.

I have two like that as well and they are great. the moving feature makes shop cleaning easy and when it comes time to paint your shop or change florescent tubes you can move them around like scaffolding to get to your ceiling! On one of them I mounted a winch to bring in non running cars. As far as bolting them in, if I lived in California earthquake country I would do that.

[ChazA]

Love my Rotary. Have had four years

http://www.rotarylift.com/LIGHTDUTY/FOURPOST/

Used in most shops-sister co.

Chaz

[Joe in Canada]

A friend bought a cheaper one when a weld broke and the car came down and lucky no one was hurt. Pay the extra and get a good one rated as commercial use.

[g-g-g0]

I have a Backyard Buddy 7000# not bolted to the floor and never had an issue with it! You can see from below the selection of cars that have been on it.

[Mark Shaw]

I have three 7000# storage lifts that were about $2000 each. They are all certified and have double safety latches. I have had one in my home shop for over 8 trouble free years... Two others are storage lifts that only go up and down three or four times each year. None are bolted and all have been moved once or twice for cleaning the floor, painting walls, etc. They are too heavy to move without the dollies supplied with the lifts.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Thanks for the input !!

[STEVE POLLARD]

I have another question on this topic, on the lifts that you guys currently own, did the manufacturer deliver and set up your lifts or did you have to set it up for yourself ?

Thanks

[John_S_in_Penna]

Steve, I know you can have your lifts installed--either by the

distributor (if you buy from one), or probably from an installer

recommended by the lift manufacturer.

I've been looking at lifts myself, but have not bought one yet.

Here are a few findings for you to consider:

---Four-post lifts come in various lengths and widths. Most

manufacturers have more than one size, and you may pay

only $300 more for a wider or extended-length model.

Getting one with legs spaced a little farther apart may be helpful,

because getting your Impala underneath the standard size

may be like uncomfortably "threading the needle."

---Lifts come in various qualities. Rotary is a good name

and makes a commercial-quality line as well as a hobbyist line.

Their hobbyist line is perhaps $1000 more than a lower-quality make.

Their commercial line is rugged but its legs may be too

far apart for a residential garage. Backyard Buddy is

supposed to be excellent too, though it will likely cost

twice the price of a typical lower-quality lift.

---Consider getting a used lift. My local garage mechanic

gave me the name of his Rotary distributor, who had

2 used commercial-quality lifts that I could have, installed,

for about $3000 each. (They were too wide for me, though.)

That same distributor also had (new) residential lines to offer.

---Be very careful about your garage door track.

When the garage door is raised, you don't want it hitting the

back window of your car! And a vehicle such as a station wagon

or Ford Bronco (with a vertical back) needs special care.

You may have to raise your garage door track to a point

above the roof of the tallest car, closer to your 12' ceiling.

Edited February 17, 2015 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

It'll be an extra charge to have someone else set it up for you. I just paid the $600 or so to have them do it for time reasons. It took one guy the better part of a full day to set it up, and he'd done it before. Some of the pieces, primarily the rails on which the car rolls, were quite heavy and he used a crane on his truck to unload them, put them on dollies, and maneuver them into position. Other designs might be more user-friendly and easier to set up yourself. I don't think it's that hard and if you're reasonably competent and have a few guys who can help you move the heavy parts, I bet you could handle it.

One other thought I had was to check the thickness of your garage floor. Some recently built residential houses only need 4 inches of pad thickness and a lift with a heavy car on it might crack or damage such a thin floor. Since your space is a dedicated hobby garage, I bet they did a 6-inch or thicker pad, which should be OK.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Matt, in our area of the country, a 4-inch-thick concrete slab

is the norm, even for a hobbyist's garage and possibly for even

an auto-repair garage. An industrial building with heavy loads

might have a 6" slab; but typical garage loads really aren't heavy.

(I speak as an engineer.)

The lifts typically have wide steel base plates, which help distribute

the weight. The post manufacturer may be able to recommend

the needed slab thickness, and my gut feeling is that a 4" thick slab

on a gravel layer and with normally sound soil below should easily suffice.

Edited February 17, 2015 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Guest]

I have another question on this topic, on the lifts that you guys currently own, did the manufacturer deliver and set up your lifts or did you have to set it up for yourself ?

Thanks

I believe that would have been extra, but I wanted to see how they went together so...... On the day before delivery I rented a forklift and it was dropped off late afternoon that day which means they don't charge you for that overnight drop off. This was needed to get them off the truck and to move things ( ramps and post are heavy ) around. A friend helped, one person on the forklift and one person to position and guide. Instructions are simple and so are these lifts. We started at 8:00 A.M. and were done with both at 1:00 P.M. Enough to return the forklift ( about 10:30 ) for a 1/2 day rental and grab lunch on the way back. Always use tools when you can to do the job, after all that's why be bought lifts, anyroad the forklift is a great tool for this job.

My Garage, 34'X48' has a 8 1/2 " high stem wall 2' high and the slab inside 6" ( floor) is tied to it with rebar and inside the slab at two different locations are a 1'X1 ' deep boxes with pad eyes to chain down a car to pull things with. With steel plates covering them flush with the slab floor you can roll anything over them. 1/2 of the depth or length of the floor is dead nuts flat for alignment, and the other half ( 24' ) is pitched 1/4" to the outside doors so you can wash a car inside and out of the sun.

Edited February 17, 2015 by helfen (see edit history)

[STEVE POLLARD]

Thanks again.... more excellent information, I appreciate it! When I had my garage built in 2010, I was thinking ahead with the thought of one day installing a lift, so we did make sure about the thickness of the pad; I also made sure about the garage door track, I remember that I had to special order the track so that it hugs the garage ceiling. After having both knees operated on, I'm leaning towards having the unit installed...

Steve

[D Yaros]

John_S_in_Penna makes some very good points. You most definitely should give careful consideration to purchasing a used lift. More bang for the buck in doing so. I have a 2-post, used; Mohawk A-7. Made in America and warranted for 5 yrs. by manufacturer.

I was going to install myself. Forget that idea when I learned that each column weighed a mere half-ton! I had the seller do the install. Well worth every penny!

As John_S pointed out, the overhead door was realigned so as not to go parallel with the floor on full open. Instead it goes up at about a 30 degree angle. This permits having the door open while a car is on the lift.

[Larry W]

I have a four post lift that I drive two cars across the ramps and lift both at once. It's a K&W lift, but I think it must be the last one they made before leaving the planet. I was unable to contact them shortly after my purchase. Does anyone know the fate of this manufacturer?

[poci1957]

I have had one of the Greg Smith lifts for about 7 years and have been very satisfied. I agree that it is a good idea to buy a larger capacity for a few extra bucks, and I have always felt safe underneath it. I never bolted mine down and I paid them (I think) $300 extra to assemble it for me. I took it down myself (with two helpers) for a move, so I will now be re-assembling it and we will see how that goes. But they were fine to deal with and I have been satisfied, good luck with yours, Todd C

[John_S_in_Penna]

Todd (Poci1957), what is the turquoise-colored Pontiac in your picture?

I don't recognize those tail lights--must be a Grand Prix or something?

I need a better Pontiac reference book!